Projecting Impact: How the NFB Continues to Change the World by Teri Snelgrove Bachelor of Fine Arts, Emily Carr University, 1999 Project Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the Graduate Liberal Studies Program Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences © Teri Snelgrove 2020 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Summer 2020 Copyright in this work rests with the author. Please ensure that any reproduction or re-use is done in accordance with the relevant national copyright legislation. Approval Name: Teri Snelgrove Degree: Master of Arts Title: Projecting Impact: How the NFB Continues to Change the World Examining Committee: Chair: Stephen Duguid Professor Emeritus Milena Droumeva Senior Supervisor Assistant Professor School of Communication Gary McCarron Supervisor Associate Professor School of Communication Hannah McGregor Internal Examiner Assistant Professor Publishing Program Date Defended/Approved: May 13, 2020 ii Abstract Projecting Impact: How the NFB Continues to Change the World, is a three-part documentary podcast series that examines the methodologies and approaches to making social change through documentary film and interactive digital creations. Is media an effective tool for creating social change? How do we measure it? By examining work from the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) that was created over three unique eras, I look at the changing face of social impact with regards to documentary film and media production and in relation to broader social movements. Beginning with some of the early ground-breaking documentary work created during the Challenge for Change program (1967-1980), then moving to some of the seminal work created by Studio D (1974-1996), which was the world’s first feminist documentary film studio, and finally, examining documentary creation and dissemination today, Projecting Impact sheds light on the important work of the NFB, the people who’ve created it, and the social change the work has made in the world. Despite tectonic shifts in technology over the past fifty years, I also discover that the unique distribution system employed by the NFB in its early days has surprising contemporary parallels, as do the thoughtful approaches of some of the key NFB creators in addressing social movements and inequality. Today, the NFB continues to be deeply invested in making work that has the potential to create social change. I contend that in this media morass in which we live, the metrics with which we measure social change require a rethink. Acknowledging the NFB's many significant contributions to Canadian society over its first eighty years, traditional metrics cannot capture the full scope of this impact and so, as I argue, the NFB should accept more diverse, community- based measures of uptake and influence. The three podcasts can be found here: Episode 1 Repairing the World https://soundcloud.com/teri-s/t_snelgrove_thesis_episode_1_repairing_the_world-1 Episode 2 Second Wave https://soundcloud.com/teri-s/t_snelgrove_thesis_episode_2_second_wave Episode 3 Down the Rabbit Hole https://soundcloud.com/teri-s/t_snelgrove_thesis_episode_3_down_the_rabbit_hole iii Keywords: National Film Board of Canada; Canadian documentary film; Challenge for Change; Studio D; social change; social impact iv Acknowledgements This podcast series would not have been possible without the support of my colleagues at the National Film Board of Canada. Thank you for indulging me every step of the journey (and apologies for my whinging along the way). To all of the filmmakers, cultural workers, film historians and film professors who participated in this project, I have such deep gratitude for your amazing stories and your enthusiasm in sharing them with me. You truly are this project, and I only wish I could have included more of the words you so generously shared with me. To my advisor, Milena Droumeva, words cannot convey my gratitude for your patience, assistance, calming presence and excellent feedback, particularly in the home stretch when I needed some pokes, prods and head-pats. Thank you as well to my GLS support team, Gary McCarron and Sandra Zink, for answering every question without judgement. To my GLS cohort, who have been cheering from the sidelines, I am only crossing this finish line because of the promise of a celebration on the other side with all of you. A special thanks to my copy- editing grammar nerds, Melissa McDowell and Kate Clinton – your eagle eyes were invaluable. To my family in Newfoundland, especially Paul and Michele - I may be late to the academic party, but I’ve certainly appreciated your support. Finally, to my one and only, Brian Nicol - there truly are not enough ways to say thank-you for being there from the beginning of this crazy journey. Your support has been unparalleled. v Table of Contents Approval ............................................................................................................................ ii Abstract .............................................................................................................................iii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... v Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. vi Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 My Academic Journey in Podcast Production ............................................................. 2 The Inquiry ....................................................................................................................... 6 The Platform .................................................................................................................... 7 The Background ............................................................................................................ 10 The Process ................................................................................................................... 12 Omissions ...................................................................................................................... 14 Background: The National Film Board of Canada ..................................................... 15 Projecting Impact: How the NFB Continues to Change the World ........................... 18 Episode One – Repairing the World ................................................................................ 18 Episode Two: Second Wave ........................................................................................... 19 Episode Three: Down the Rabbit Hole ............................................................................ 20 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 23 Bibliography .................................................................................................................. 24 Appendix: Supplemental Files .................................................................................... 29 vi Introduction Over the course of working on my Master’s degree through the Graduate Liberal Studies (GLS) program, I fell in love with sound. This was not my intention, as historically, though I’d developed a healthy respect for those who dealt life’s stories in aural emissions and sonic surges, I had an abject fear of “editing tape.” However, as I felt my heart and head cracked open in the privileged setting of the GLS classroom, something shifted for me. I was consuming podcasts as a way to “wind down” when I needed a break from reading, thinking and writing, and I found myself drawn more and more to the nuanced perspectives that well-produced audio could bring to any subject. This began to influence the work I was generating as I read my way through dozens of texts and articles, and before I knew it, I had fallen head over heels with the promise that sound offered. Specifically, I came to understand the potential in using audio documentary to explore ideas that were directly related to the academic coursework I was doing. My burgeoning interest in audio documentary storytelling provided a counterpoint for me on a professional level as well: it presented an alternative to the world of documentary cinema which is where I hang my hat on a daily basis as a producer in the BC & Yukon Studio of the National Film Board of Canada. What follows is a synopsis of the audio-related work I did over the course of my studies (which will help provide an understanding of how I chose my thesis approach); the central inquiry of my thesis; the rationale for the podcast platform; the methodology; the background for my research; and an overview and summary of my findings. This will provide the rationale for my non-traditional approach to a Master’s project, and the academic context for Projecting Impact: How the NFB Continues to Change the World. 1 My Academic Journey in Podcast Production Over the course of my GLS studies, I created a total of six documentary audio projects, that all contributed in some way to my thesis project: 1. First, it was critical to understand the form of podcasting in the context of contemporary listening trends, and to place it along a historical timeline that begins with radio; • For a directed studies course with Dr. Zoë Druick, I created a podcast called Aural Fixation: The Rise of the Documentary Podcast, in which I examined